Princess Nausicaa

THE PRINCESS NAUSICAA

HOMERIC SIMILE: A long comparison between two unlike things.

Imagery is descriptions that appeal to the senses.

Strategist: (root word: strategy) a very clever person who creates a plan of attack to accomplish a goal.

The Nymph Calypso releases Odysseus who builds a boat and sets sail for Ithaca. However, Poseidon whips up yet another storm which leaves him shipwrecked on the shores of the Phaeacians.

The Princess Nausicaa

Meanwhile, in the Court of Alcinous, we meet the beautiful young Princess Nausicaa. She is the daughter of King Alcinous who rules over the island of Scheria, on whose beach Odysseus is now lying, exhausted from his twenty rough days at sea, locked in the deep embrace of sleep.  We see the Princess sleeping in her bed before dawn. The Goddess Athena disguises herself as the best friend of the princess to wake her up so that she will go down to the beach to wash clothes and discover Odysseus passed out at the shore.

Graces: The three beautiful goddesses who govern beauty, charm, and pleasure in human life.

Common Motif in Greek literature and mythology: The gods disguise themselves as mortals. Athena disguises herself as a mortal again. The first time Athena disguises herself in THE ODYSSEY is when she appears as on old man named Mentor, to give advice to Telemachus. MENTOR is where we get the word "mentor", which is an older, wiser advisor. Now in Book 6 of THE ODYSSEY, Athena appears as Dymas' daughter, Nausicaa's best friend, to awaken her without frightening her to tell her to go to the beach today.

The Greeks believed that the gods frequently interfered in the lives of humans in this way - by disguising themselves as mortals to make suggestions, or to direct our feet along a certain path so that fates and destinies may be fulfilled.

Distaff yarn: Princess Nausicaa's mother was already at work, spinning wool onto a spindle to make cloth.

Nausicaa is probably about fifteen, marriageable age for a young Greek girl at that time. She tells her father she wants to wash the family linen for the dances her brothers must attend in order to find suitable wives.

Drubbed: to hit the clothes against rocks to clean them.

Nausicaa and her hand maids ride to the beach in a little cart with the laundry. There at the beach, they wash the clothes, they picnic, they run races, they swim, they sun bathe, and they play sports. While they are playing a game of catch, Athena causes the ball to go out of bounds and bounce next to Odysseus, waking him up.

Odysseus is a much older man - and naked - and he is confronted with a problem - how does he get what he needs - food, clothes and help - without frightening the young girls. He thinks quickly - should he prostrate himself (lie down flat on the ground) and touch the princess's knees to show submission or should he stand tall and humbly ask for her help? He decides that touching her may frighten her so he decides on the latter course. He breaks off an olive branch to hide his nakedness and begins to flatter her, saying she reminds him of Artemis (the goddess of virginity - a wise choice which shows he recognizes and respects her youth and virginity).

Odysseus says that if she helps him, he will wish a happy home and marriage for her - things that were very important to the Greeks.

Nausicaa says, "You know Zeus mets out fortune / to good and bad men as it pleases him."

Nausicaa says that Zeus gives bad things to both good and bad people - which is the Greek philosophy explaining the randomness of life. Good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people.

She decides to help him and orders her maids to bathe him, and to give him food and clothes.

Note again how important it is to treat your guests with respect.

Odysseus responds in a gracious, respectful and wise manner by saying it is not appropriate that these young girls should see him in his nakedness so he will bathe himself without their help.

Again, Athena intervenes by making him rockstar glamourous looking - fit for an action hero.

Hyacinth: a flower that is reddish gold. This is the color to which Athena restores Odysseus' hair.

Hephaestus: black smith to the gods. Look up the Myth of Hephaestus.  He was an exceptionally ugly god - so ugly in fact that his mother, Hera, threw him off Mount Olympus because he was such an ugly baby.  He landed at the bottom of the ocean and began gathering up the pearls, diamonds, rubies and emeralds he found there to make gorgeous jewelry.  When Hera saw the beautiful rings and bracelets he was making, she reconsidered and brought him back to Olympus.  So overjoyed was she by the beauty of his jewelry, she gave him Aphrodite, the most beautiful goddess on Olympus, to marry, which is another example of irony - the ugliest god is married to the most beautiful one.

Back to the story of the Princess Nausicaa:

Nausicaa tells Odysseus to walk behind the cart with her maids back to the palace. They will pass by the marina where construction workers and sailors are building ships. She warns Odysseus that the men will be quite rude and make speculative comments about their relationship. The men are quite bitter that she has rejected all of them as possible suitors or husbands.

Again, Nausicaa exhibits the highest level of appropriate Greek behavior - she does not want to do anything that will shame her parents.

"And I myself should hold it shame / for any girl to flout her own dear parents, / taking up with a man, before her marriage."

Flout: to scorn, to insult, to show contempt for.